Fun and Games
by Mizzykitty
Summary: Damian learns that sometimes, the games they play have unintentional consequences. This is a sequel to The Chains We Forge but it can be read as a PWP one-shot. There might be a reference here or there to the main storyline, but it's pretty minor. Note: Cover art is from bottan at Dreamwidth.


_The four rules of Hojo-jutsu:_

_1. Not to allow the prisoner to slip his bonds.  
2. Not to cause any physical or mental injury.  
3. Not to allow others to see the techniques.  
4. To make the result beautiful to look at._

Jason turned to look out the window as Damian slipped the rope under his arm and wrapped it around his chest for the umpteenth time. He was all for bondage normally, but he found intricate rope tying and complicated knots just beyond tedious. Damian had given him a half hour lecture once about the control, the aesthetic, and the whole philosophy behind Japanese rope bondage. Jason had heard: I like to tie you up so shut up and deal with it. Which was fine, he could do that, but he was never going to be as into it as Damian seemed to be.

He had a particularly scenic view of the manor grounds from his vantage point, which was made all the more colourful now that the leaves on the trees were starting to turn. It was pretty, he supposed, but he had a difficult time appreciating it. When he was a boy, the first yellowing leaves had always been a harbinger of hard times ahead, of chilly morning walks to school with wind slicing through his tattered Salvation Army hand-me-downs, and drafty nights huddled beneath threadbare blankets. Even now, the arrival of autumn never ceased to stir up a low level sort of anxiety in him. A reflexive pang of hunger rumbled in his stomach, but it was comforting to know that Alfred would be preparing them dinner tonight. He wondered what it would be. Pot roast maybe, or steak? Ever since he'd had it with Bruce at that hoity-toity restaurant in downtown Gotham, he craved it now and again.

"…even listening to me, Todd?" Damian asked, snapping Jason's wandering mind back to the present.

"Of course," Jason replied confidently.

Damian secured what felt like the final knot behind Jason's back and circled around the bed to face him. Jason tightened up his posture, making sure he was kneeling properly and that his back was straight. Nothing pissed Damian off like when he slouched in his restraints.

Damian's gaze roved over him appreciatively, but there was a little twist to his lips that let Jason know he was less than pleased.

"If you were listening, then what was I saying?" Damian demanded.

"You were talking about the type of knots you were tying, and the feel of the rope," Jason answered without hesitation. It was a throwback from Bruce's training – if you're going to lie, then it's balls to the wall or nothing.

Damian tilted his head as a look of sheer "are you kidding me with this" crossed his face. "I don't know what's worse, your attention span, or your lies. Do you want to tell me what were thinking about that was more important than listening to me?"

Jason bit back the belligerent "no!" on the tip of his tongue; he was in enough trouble as it was. Some days, he liked to challenge Damian every step of the way, but today he was feeling sort of distracted, and he really wasn't in the mood to put up much of a fight. Maybe it was the weather, or the fact that they were at the manor, which always made him uneasy, even when they weren't having sex. "I was thinking about dinner," he admitted with a resigned sigh.

"Do you ever think about anything besides your stomach?" Damian sneered.

"I'm hungry!" Jason said defensively.

Damian rolled his eyes. "Since your next meal seems to be the only thing you're interested in, I suppose the only way I'll get you to pay attention to me is to feed it to you…on your knees. Would that be sufficient to remind you of your priorities?"

Realisation hit Jason like a bucket of ice water, snapping him out of his contemplative mood and bringing the here and now into sharp relief. Damian was going to make him kneel under that big fucking table in that ridiculously oppressive dining room and lick scraps from his hand like a dog…possibly right next to the actual fucking dog! And Jesus fuck, Alfred! His entire body twitched at the thought. Sure, Alfred had some idea about the nature of their relationship – he was a perceptive old coot and Damian wouldn't know subtlety if it slapped him in the face – but there was knowing and then there was _knowing_, and Alfred definitely didn't need to _know_.

"But Alfred…" Jason protested.

"Might see, I know," Damian said with a dismissive wave. "He's kept Batman's secret for decades, I can't imagine he'll be announcing your disgusting proclivities to the world anytime soon."

Jason frowned. It wasn't who Alfred would tell that concerned him, it was Alfred himself knowing, judging, disapproving... "But-"

"I'm not through," Damian cut him off. "As for your punishment, I-"

"What?" Jason blurted.

"Did you just interrupt me?" Damian arched an eyebrow at him, and Jason immediately snapped his mouth shut. A bead of sweat trickled slowly down his back.

"Smart move," Damian said. "Too bad it's a day late and a dollar short. I was going to suggest a flogging, but you'd enjoy that too much. No, I think something else is in order." He bent down and pulled a ball gag out of his briefcase. "Maybe this will teach you to think before you speak."

Jason recoiled in horror. There was something viscerally terrifying about screaming at the top of your lungs but barely making a sound. It was like being buried alive and no matter how loud you screamed, no one would ever hear you. He shuddered.

"I'm sorry," he said hastily. "I won't do it again. Come on, I just-"

Damian's expression hardened. "Were you under the impression that this was a negotiation?" he asked coldly.

Jason swallowed hard. He could refuse; that was his right. All he had to do was say the word, and Damian would stop. But then…then he would have to admit that he couldn't handle his stupid, irrational fears, and there was no fucking way he was going to let that happen.

Perhaps sensing his inner conflict, Damian said, "It'll only be on for twenty minutes, and I won't touch you while it's on."

"You won't?" Jason asked suspiciously.

Damian held his hands up. "You have my word."

Jason exhaled softly. "Ok," he acceded, deliberately quashing the lingering doubts in the back of his mind.

Damian carded his fingers through Jason's hair. "Good," he murmured in his ear.

Jason leaned into the touch, eagerly soaking up the warmth of Damian's approval. Sometimes it disturbed him how much he was willing to suffer just to hear those words, but then he remembered the kinds of things he'd done in the past just to get a reaction, positive or otherwise, out of Bruce or Dick. This was so much less destructive in comparison.

Damian set the gag down on the bed. "That can wait." He pulled a set of clover nipple clamps out of his case. "Let's get these on first."

Jason's mouth suddenly went dry. He'd never even heard of these things before he met Damian, but now he knew what they were – the most evil invention in the history of mankind. Forget the rack, these things were like torture distilled into two tiny fiery points of agony.

Damian trailed the cold metal clamps over his nipples, making them stiffen. Once he had them nice and hard, he eased the clamps on.

Jason hissed through his teeth, his hands clenching behind his back as the pain from the twin clamps blazed across his synapses, setting every nerve ending alight in an explosion of sensation that instantly took him from half hard to aching.

"What do you say?" Damian prompted.

"Thank you," Jason gasped out.

Damian let go of the clamps altogether and the weight of the heavy chain that connected them added their own special brand of hell to the pain already searing his nipples. Next, Damian grabbed a coiled length of rope from his case and climbed up onto the bed.

The movement caused the bed to shift, and the chain to sway diabolically. Jason gritted his teeth against the fresh surge of pain. He watched curiously though as Damian slung the rope through the ring in the ceiling. They hadn't been able to find a load-bearing beam above the bed, so it couldn't take a person's full weight, but Damian often used it to tie his hands up while he knelt on the bed. However, as his hands were already tied behind his back, that clearly wasn't what it was for.

Damian's intentions became all too clear when he picked up the chain dangling between the clamps. A wave of apprehension rolled through Jason and he started to tremble. It was a side effect of the adrenaline pumping through his system, because his body had already cottoned on to the fact that this was going to hurt like a sonofabitch. Damian tied one end of the rope to the middle of the chain and pulled the rope fairly taut before securing it.

"There," Damian said when he was done, his grin full of smug self-satisfaction. He raised his hand and Jason tensed for the slap - he dared not flinch away for fear those damned clamps would rip his nipples off. But the blow never came.

Damian chuckled at his reaction, a low, guttural sound full of sadistic glee.

Jason realized that it had been a feint, and that Damian was mocking him. He felt prickles of shame lick over his entire body even as a sharp pang of lust thrilled through him. Jesus, he was one sick fuck. Hell, even the humiliation of being turned on by this humiliation turned him on!

Damian eyed him for a moment before he picked up the ball gag. "Ready?"

Jason took a deep breath. In a way, it was comforting to know that he had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no option but to take it. He wanted to take it, wanted to prove to Damian that he could, and would, endure anything for him. He closed his eyes and obediently opened his mouth. Damian shoved the black silicone ball in over his tongue and past his teeth. He bit down as Damian buckled the straps around the back of his head.

"Comfortable?" Damian asked.

Jason nodded, though he was aware that he was shaking again, this time from who the hell knew what fucked up emotion. God, he really hoped that Damian wouldn't notice. He knew exactly just how ridiculous his fear was, and the last thing he needed was a barrage of insults about his inability to cope with a stupid little ball gag.

Damian gave him a searching look, and Jason suddenly felt naked, even more so than he already was, as though Damian could see every pitiful insecurity written on his face. He held his breath, waiting for the first scathing remark, but Damian just leaned in and pressed a kiss to the pulse point below his ear. He closed his eyes and momentarily forgot everything else, his entire world narrowing to that one point of contact.

Damian murmured soothingly against his neck as he ran a hand over Jason's trembling body.

Jason bit back a whimper. _Weak, pathetic_, a voice whispered deep down and he desperately wished Damian would just hit him, because the level of neediness and vulnerability this...kindness...brought out in him was unbearable. If he hadn't been gagged, he probably would've snapped off an insult, because anything was better than _this_, even punishment.

Damian lingered a moment longer, and when he finally pulled away, Jason inadvertently made an embarrassing noise that was equal parts relief and disappointment. He tensed, expecting to hear one of Damian's trademark snorts of derision, but it never came. Instead, Damian just pulled a stopwatch out of his briefcase and set it to twenty minutes.

"Time starts now," Damian said, clicking the watch. "I'll see you in twenty minutes."

"Mmm?" Jason asked. He couldn't possibly have heard that correctly.

Damian's lips twitched in amusement. "Did I forget to mention? I need to walk Titus before dinner."

"Mmmm!" Jason objected, feeling his anxiety ratchet up instantly.

Damian raised an eyebrow at him. "Calm down," he ordered. "You're perfectly capable of handling this, Jason."

"Mmmm," Jason whined.

Damian rolled his eyes. "If you have the wherewithal to try to manipulate me, then you'll be fine by yourself for twenty minutes."

"MMMMM!" Jason growled.

"Watch your tone," Damian warned. "You should use this time wisely. Nobody likes being ignored, especially not me, so I suggest you think about that. If you're sufficiently sorry when I return, then I might fuck you. If not, then I guess you'll just have to take solace from your dinner." With that, he whistled for his dog and swept from the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

* * *

Jason shifted in his restraints in an attempt to ease some of his growing discomfort. How long had it been? Damian hadn't left him a watch, and the bedside alarm clock was behind him, so he had no idea what time it was. His shoulders were starting to ache from the way his arms were twisted and tied behind his back, and his back was cramping from the rigid posture he had to maintain to reduce the tension on the clamps. And speaking of the fucking clamps, the intense pain in his nipples had lessened to a dull ache, except of course for when he accidently swayed or twitched too much, at which point they exploded with the fiery pain of a thousand suns. Then there was his cock, which was screaming out for attention and so hard that it too was starting to hurt. To top it all off, he was drooling all over himself, which was not only disgusting but humiliating as well.

Where the hell was Damian? He hadn't really thought he would go through with it, but the fucking bastard had actually abandoned him, had left him here to rot for all he knew. As soon as he thought it, the half-formed doubts in the back of his mind suddenly crystallized into full-blown paranoia. Was Damian actually coming back or was this just a final fuck you before he kicked him to the curb? Jason had his faults - he wasn't the perfect sub or boyfriend by any stretch – but did he really deserve to be dumped like this? Jesus Christ, maybe he did. He was such a fucking screw up, what on earth would make him think that he deserved any better? Bruce and Dick obviously didn't think he did.

"Mmmmm!" he swore.

"Damian?" a muffled voice called suddenly.

Jason froze as he heard foosteps in the hallway outside the door. _What the fuck? Who…?_

"Damian, is that you? Where are you?"

Jason twitched in his restraints as his heart rate shot through the roof. If he made a noise, whoever it was might think he was Damian calling him into the room, but if he kept silent, whoever it was might think Damian wasn't home and come into the room anyway. _Oh Jesus, please don't be Bruce…please don't be Alfred either but please God, don't be Bruce…_

A knock sounded loudly on the door, and Jason flinched so hard that the subsequent pain from his abused nipples made his eyes water.

The door opened and, "Damian, are you-" Tim stopped as he slowly took in the scene.

Jason swore he could feel his skin burning wherever Tim's gaze rested and his traitorous cock responded by getting impossibly harder. Great, a new fucked up kink, as if he didn't have enough of them already.

Apparently, this fact did not escape Tim's notice. "I-I thought…" he stammered, his face flushing bright red.

Damn every single person in this family's freakish observation skills!

"Mmm!" Jason growled impatiently.

"Oh, right, sorry," Tim said, dropping his eyes to the floor. "It's just, ah, it's urgent, so…I'm going down to use the cave computer, and if you ah…if you see him…"

"MMMM!"

Tim clapped a hand over his mouth.

Was that fucker laughing?

"Of course you'll see him, haha. Yeah, so just tell him I got your permission to use the computer, so he won't be mad, and…I'm going down there now, ok?" Tim finished before he ducked out of the room.

"Mmmmmm!"

* * *

Damian had just unleashed his dog and was heading back to his bedroom when Tim Drake (Wayne) almost knocked him over as he came barreling down the hallway at full pelt. Thankfully, his reflexes being what they were, Damian managed to leap aside just in time to avoid colliding with him.

"What are you doing here, Drake?" Damian demanded.

"I came to use the cave computer I hope that's ok it's critical and rather urgent so I hope you don't mind if I spend a few hours processing some samples," Tim blurted, his words tumbling over one another like a pile of wrestling puppies. "I swear I won't be in your way you'll hardly even know I'm here."

Damian eyed him sharply. Tim's face was beet red, and he hadn't once looked up from about the middle of Damian's chest. He grimaced as he suddenly realized what direction Tim had just come from.

"Did you-"

"I swear to God I'll never tell anyone I just don't want to think about it and I don't want to talk about it and just please let's never mention it again," Tim said to Damian's left shoulder.

Damian swallowed hard. "Well, I'm glad we could come to an agreement…Tim. Feel free to use the cave for as long as you need," he said with as much dignity as he could scrape together.

"Yeah ok great I'll see you later," Tim threw over his shoulder as he practically ran away from him.

Damian hurried down the hallway and into his bedroom. He stopped in his tracks however as he caught sight of Pet _writhing_ in his restraints, his cock twitching and jerking with each heartbeat. He was so…perfect, inside and out, flaws and all. It was easily forgotten in the shuffle of day to day life, but at times like these, Damian remembered just how much he loved Jason, and the force of his feelings left him breathless.

Truth be told, he'd gotten about a dozen yards from the house before he'd realized that there was no way he was going for a twenty minute walk with his massive erection stuffed into his rather tight designer jeans. He'd been unbelievably turned on not only by Pet's willing acquiescence to the ball gag, something that he knew was a hard limit for him, but by the thought of him waiting patiently for him to return, bound and gagged and straining with the agony of anticipation. Besides, he'd been a bit too agitated at the prospect of leaving Pet alone in such a vulnerable position for that length of time to actually go through with it, so he'd urged the dog to do his business quickly and had run back inside at the first opportunity. Even his run-in with Drake hadn't been enough to put a damper on his excitement, but he had to wonder if it had put Jason off. Goddamn Drake! If he'd said anything to upset Jason, Damian was going to pummel him into a bloody pulp - again.

Jason's eyes snapped to his and he moaned softly behind his gag.

Damian hurried to his side. "I ran into Drake in the hallway. Are you all right?"

Jason nodded.

Damian reached down and smeared the precum on the tip of Jason's dick around with his thumb.

Jason's head fell back as an obscene moan of pleasure worked its way past the gag.

"More than all right, from the looks of it," Damian said with a smirk, and no small amount of relief. "I had no idea you were such an exhibitionist, Todd."

Jason groaned and rolled his eyes meaningfully.

Damian slid a finger between Jason's cheek and the strap of the ball gag and stroked his face lightly. "Do you want this off?"

Jason nodded again.

Damian obligingly reached around him and unbuckled the gag. After all, Pet had withstood a whole thirteen minutes at this point, and had suffered Drake's prying eyes to boot. Damian was damn proud of him, twenty minutes or not. He surreptitiously reached into his pocket and clicked off the stopwatch – Pet didn't need to see that.

"I'm sorry," Jason blurted as soon as Damian had removed the gag. "I'm so...fuck...I just…please..."

Damian cut the incoherent babbling off with a kiss, forcing his way into Jason's mouth, dominating him in a way that usually turned Pet into an obsequious mess, not that he wasn't already. Apparently, Drake notwithstanding, the punishment had worked even better than expected.

"I see you've been using your time wisely," Damian said, giving Jason's neglected cock a squeeze. Jason gasped and thrust reflexively into his hand, but the subsequent agonized grimace on his face was enough to make Damian wince on his behalf. He decided that it was time the suspension rope came off. He climbed up onto the bed and untied it, lowering the clamp chain carefully rather than simply letting it drop. Jason slumped gratefully against Damian's leg, his face inadvertently pressed against the sizeable bulge in Damian's jeans.

Damian tilted Jason's face up to look at him. "You want those clamps off now, or can you wait?"

Jason bit his lip, but after a brief moment of indecision, he said, "I can wait."

Damian was so pleased that he said, "Hmm, I think you deserve a reward now. On your back." It would still hurt Jason to lie in that position with his arms bound so tightly behind his back, but it would create less drag on the nipple clamps, so he decided it was the kinder of the two options.

While Jason maneuvered into position, Damian quickly shucked his clothes. He tore open a condom packet with his teeth and slipped the little rubber disc down over his cock. Lube came next, more than he usually bothered with, but this was meant to be a reward, after all. He looked down to find Pet watching him intently. He stroked a thumb over Jason's lips, still red and a bit swollen from the gag. "Mine," he murmured.

Jason gazed up at him with such intense _want_ that it made Damian almost giddy.

Damian fucked into him with one hard thrust, grunting as the heat and friction swallowed him whole. Jason gasped, but it wasn't more than two or three thrusts before he was arching up to meet Damian, matching him thrust for thrust.

"Yeah, h-harder," Jason stuttered, and Damian was more than happy to comply. He fisted a hand in Jason's hair, yanked his head back and proceeded to suck and bite a series of bruises into his throat as he fucked into him. Jason shouted unintelligible nonsense words at him that were half encouragement and half pleading. It wasn't often that Damian managed to reduce Pet to a babbling heap, but when he did succeed, it was…intense, to say the least.

Riding high on their combined emotions, it wasn't very long at all before Damian felt his orgasm building.

As though on cue, Jason shouted, "Oh god, Damian, please, let me come, please!"

"Count down from three," Damian ordered, picking up the pace to push himself right to the edge.

"Three…two…"

Damian removed both nipple clamps simultaneously.

"FUCK!"

Damian held Jason down while he shook through a violent orgasm, every muscle in his body straining as he arched off the bed. As Jason's muscles spasmed around his cock, Damian closed his eyes and let his own orgasm rip through him. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed over him, so many that at one point, he wondered how on earth he was still coming. Eventually the orgasm faded, and when the aftershocks finally subsided, he pulled out of Jason and collapsed next to him on the bed.

"That was…" Damian shook his head, for once at a loss for words.

"Yeah," Jason agreed breathlessly.

When they had caught their breaths, and the sweat had begun to cool slightly on their bodies, Damian said, "Roll over." Jason did as he was told, allowing Damian to begin untying the many intricate knots of the rope harness he had constructed earlier.

When Jason was finally free, Damian spent a few minutes massaging his arms to encourage the circulation back into his no doubt numb extremities. He took a few moments to inspect Jason's nipples, as well, to make sure the clamps hadn't broken the skin or cut off the circulation for too long. Though they were dark red and swollen, and would probably be sensitive for the next day or so, there didn't seem to be any permanent harm done.

"Are you all right?" Damian asked. It had become a habit by now, the visual inspection followed by the verbal confirmation. He liked to believe that it was for Jason's sake, but he knew deep down that it was primarily to assuage his own guilt.

Jason hesitated for a fraction of a second too long before he nodded.

Damian frowned. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Jason assured him.

Damian bit his lip, knowing full well that what Jason said and what he thought were often two very different things. "Look at me," he ordered when he realised that Jason was looking at anything but.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's just-"

"Don't make me repeat myself," Damian warned.

Jason tried to obey the command, but he only managed to hold Damian's gaze for a moment before he looked away again, his eyes welling with tears. "Fuck," he swore, swiping roughly at his face with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry."

"Jason…" At a loss as to what to do, Damian opted for pulling him into a hug. Grayson did it to him from time to time, and he had to admit that it was sometimes marginally effective at making him feel better, despite not being much of a solution to the problem at hand.

"It's ok, I'm fine," Jason insisted, though he seemed to appreciate the physical contact. It pleased Damian to know he'd made the right choice.

"You're not fine," Damian said. "What's wrong?"

Jason was silent for a long moment before he admitted, "I don't know."

"Was it Drake?" Damian growled, murderous thoughts looming like the thunderclouds at the leading edge of a storm front.

Jason shook his head.

"Was it me?" Damian asked with a frown. He knew he shouldn't have pushed for the ball gag. He'd known it was too much, and yet he'd done it anyway. What was wrong with him?

"No, of course not," Jason said, pulling back to give him a knowing look. "Ignore me; I'm just being stupid."

"I most certainly will not 'ignore you'," Damian said. In fact, he found himself rather affronted by the very idea. "Was it the gag? I know-"

"No, Dami, it was nothing, all right?" Jason sighed. "I told you, it's just me being a fucked up mental case, as usual. Sometimes I wonder why you put up with me. I'm seriously certifiable. I mean, what the fuck is this shit?" He gestured at his tears with contempt. "Sometimes I think you'd be better off if you just left and never came back."

Damian sucked in a sharp breath. So that's what this was about. He should've known better than to play that game with someone who had such deeply rooted abandonment issues. He wanted to kick himself for his insensitivity. "I would never do that to you, Todd. No matter what happens between us, I would never just abandon you without warning or explanation. If, at some point, I choose to end this relationship, believe me, you will know exactly why."

Jason huffed out a soft laugh. "I would, wouldn't I?"

The corners of Damian's mouth twitched. "What's more, I do not 'put up' with your emotional needs. I genuinely want you to be happy – as happy as you make me."

Jason hesitantly met his gaze. "I really make you happy?"

"When have I ever said something to you that was anything less than sincere?" Damian demanded.

"Never," Jason admitted.

"Then that's your answer," Damian said. "Now. I trust this matter is concluded? You know how insufferable Pennyworth gets when we're late for dinner."

Jason snorted. "By all means, let's not upset the help."

* * *

Riiiing, riiiiing, riiiiing.

Tim tapped his foot impatiently. "Come on, come on," he muttered. After the fifth ring, the phone finally clicked.

"Hi Tim," Dick greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, I need the password to the cave computer," Tim said without preamble.

"What password? It's just the finger print and retinal scan, isn't it?"

Tim sighed. "Yeah, that's what I thought too, but now it wants a password on top of the scans. Damian must have upgraded the security protocols again."

"Well, why don't you ask him what it is?" Dick asked.

Tim contained a groan. "I'd rather not."

Dick sighed into the phone. "Are you two fighting again? Come on, Timmy, I thought you'd outgrown that sibling rivalry stuff. You're adults now; isn't it time you acted like it?"

Tim rolled his eyes. "We're not fighting. I _saw_ him, Dick."

"Considering he lives there, it's not all that shocking that you might see him," Dick teased.

"No, them, I saw _them_. Walked in on them, actually. Well, not both of them, just Jason, but he was…I can't even describe it. I don't _want_ to describe it, because then I'd have to remember it, and it's really something that I'd rather Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind out of my brain forever."

"Ooooh, right." Dick hissed through his teeth. "Yeah, it can be a bit shocking at first, but you get used to it. Eternal what though? Please don't tease Damian, you know how sensitive he is about these things. And don't attack Jason either, you know he's had a rough time re-integrating into the family, and he already thinks you hate him; the last thing-"

"Wait, you knew about their creepy sex life?" Tim cut him off. As if he would do any of those insensitive things anyway! "Of course you knew. How did you know? Do I even want to know? No, you know what, don't tell me, I don't want to know if it's going to make me want to gouge my own eyes out."

Dick laughed. "Jason and I used to date, remember?"

"Oh god, Dick, no, aaaaargh!" Tim groaned.

"No, no, I didn't do that with him," Dick said hastily. "I just meant that we're…close, and you know, they told me."

"Of course they did," Tim said, rolling his eyes again. "And you're okay with it? I mean, it looked pretty brutal. Not that Jason doesn't deserve it, but if the demon spawn was abusing my ex like that, I don't think I'd be okay with it."

"It's consensual, and that's all that really matters to me," Dick said. "Besides, I think their relationship is kind of sweet."

"Maybe that's because you're not going to have that image burned into your retinas for the rest of your life," Tim groused.

"Well…"

"Wait, have you seen it too? You have, haven't you?" Tim accused. "Why am I the last person to know anything in this ridiculous excuse for a family?"

"It's not about what I have or haven't seen," Dick hedged. "The point is, if that's what makes them happy, then who are we to judge?"

Tim snorted. "I guess."

"Go talk to Damian about the password," Dick urged. "I know it's a bit awkward now, but trust me, if you act like everything's normal, everything will be normal."

"Well, Alfred invited me up to dinner about ten minutes ago, so I guess they're probably eating," Tim reasoned. "It should be ok, right? I mean, what could they possibly be doing at the dinner table besides eating?"

* * *

Tim ate his own words about ten minutes later when he walked into the dining room to find Damian sitting at the table alone. At first, he was relieved not to have to face Jason, but then he heard him.

"Fuck off, you fleabitten mutt!" Jason growled from somewhere beneath the table.

Titus gave a loud puppybark and whined.

"Come here, Titus. That's a good boy," Damian said, petting the Great Dane on the head. "Aren't you a good boy?"

"He is not!" Jason cried indignantly. "He just stole my food right out of your hand!"

"Are you seriously jealous of the dog, Todd?" Damian asked.

Tim cleared his throat loudly, and suddenly, all eyes turned to him. "Sorry to interrupt your…dinner…but I need the password to the computer," he said, and was rather pleased with himself that he managed to sound more or less casual despite the bizarre goings on under the table.

Damian blinked twitchily at him, and Tim secretly reveled in his discomfort. If he discounted the eye-searing soul-cringing horror of it all, it was actually kind of fun to watch Damian squirm.

"It's long, I'll need paper and pen," Damian said stiffly. He pushed his chair back and hurried away.

Tim caught a glimpse of Jason under the table now that Damian was no longer blocking him, but he quickly looked away. "Uh…hey, Jason. You're um…dressed, right?"

Jason sighed. "Yes."

"That's good to know," Tim said. "Do I…want to know why you're under the table?"

"Probably not," Jason said.

"Ok then," Tim said. "How's uh…" he trailed off, struggling to think of something to say.

"We don't have to make small talk, Tim," Jason said.

"Oh thank god," Tim said in relief.

The silence, however, proved to be even more awkward, and after a few moments that felt like eons, Jason said, "I'd ah, I'd appreciate it if you…kept this on the down low, you know?"

"Oh! Of course. Not a word. Scout's honour."

"You were a boyscout?" Jason asked incredulously.

Tim coughed. "Briefly. My parents thought it would be a good way for me to make friends. It didn't end particularly well."

"Why am I not surprised?" Jason muttered.

"Says the man fighting with a dog over scraps," Tim retorted.

"It's not scraps, it's _my_ food from _my_ plate!" Jason said defensively.

Tim suddenly had a mental image of Jason growling and guarding his food bowl like a dog. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a hoot of laughter, though he didn't really succeed.

"It's not funny," Jason growled, though that just made Tim laugh harder.

"What's so funny?" Damian asked as he re-entered the room.

"Nothing," Tim and Jason said simultaneously.

Damian eyed Tim suspiciously as he shoved the piece of paper at him. "Do you require anything else, or will that be all?" he asked imperiously, though the mortified scowl on his face was absolutely priceless.

Tim swallowed down another burst of giggles. "That should do for now," he managed to say without laughing.

"I'll be down to suit up in about an hour. If you need further assistance, I'll be available then," Damian said with a dismissive wave.

"Right. Well, I'll see you later then. Jason," Tim said with a nod in Jason's general direction.

"Yeah, see you," Jason said awkwardly.

When Tim finally got back downstairs, the laughter bubbled out of him unrestrained, and for the first time in quite a long time, the batcave rang with the sounds of laughter.


End file.
